Page 31 of He's the One

The first kiss of his life had given him armour. Just a thin, and not very strong layer of protection, but even so.I’m going to fight. I’m going to ask Col out.

He headed for the marquee and though it wasn’t yet open to the public, the guy on the door was an Asquith employee and he let Theo in. The judging of the photography classes had already taken place and there was no rosette on what Theo was sure must be Col’s entry for the poultry class. The judge had no sense of humour. Theo wished he had a label he could pin to the photo.Best in show.

Once he was back outside, he plastered a smile on his face and approached the first people he saw. “Welcome to Asquith Hall. Is it your first visit?”

“We’ve been a few times,” the woman said.

“Is there anything you’d like to see here? Something that would entice you to come more often?”Please say more special events or tours given by the marquess and his wife.He’d have loved to take that back to his parents.

“There was a hidden garden first time we came here, wasn’t there?” the woman said. “Our children played in a water maze. They talked about it for ages.”

“I’ll make a note,” Theo said. “Thank you.”

He wondered why he was bothering to ask anyone. He’d had a great response and he could make up the rest. No one would ever know.

Col wasn’t far from the marquee when he bumped into his mother.

“There you are,” she said. “Have you had—? What happened to you?” She winced. “Your shirt is dirty. And your trousers.Andyour face! Col!”

“I fell over.”

She licked her fingers, rubbed at his cheek, then started to brush him down.

“I did meet the marquess’s son though. At least I think it was his son. Might have been the marquess.” Col slid out of reach. “Not a very nice guy either way.”

Her eyes widened. “Really? Your dad and I were talking to one of the gardeners. He said the son is lovely. Knows everyone’s name and isn’t stuck up at all. Why did you think he wasn’t nice?”

“His attitude. I was thinking of seeing if there was a job here but I don’t think I want to work for a guy like that.”

“He’s had a lot to put up with,” she said in a whisper. “The whole family have.”

Part of Col wanted to ask what she meant. The other part of him felt sorry the family constantly had their lives picked over because Col knew exactly what that felt like. Didn’t matter how old you were, it was still hard to be under the public’s scrutiny, especially a public who were looking to find fault and be cruel rather than find something to praise.

It no longer happened to Col. Largely because he’d been forgotten, though once a journalist had found a way to get in touch with him, wanting to do a piece for a Sunday magazine. Dominic said no and that was that. Not that Col had wanted to talk to the reporter, but he would have done if his brother had asked him to.

“Col!”

The urgency in his mother’s voice brought him back to reality.

“What?”

“Whatever you do, don’t turn around but I think I can see Robert.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“Yes. It’s him. What’s he doing here?” She tsked. “Clearly looking for you. Hide in the marquee. Go now before he sees you.”

Col didn’t think until after he’d shot off that he didn’t need to hide anywhere. Robert had no right to pursue him. He should have stood his ground and told him to fuck off. But then he didn’t want to make a scene. Col hated being the centre of attention and his mum knew that.

When he reached the far side of the marquee, he slipped inside. There were several people in there and before one of them looked his way, he dropped down and crawled under the nearest table, then kept crawling until he was well away from the entrance. The tables were all covered by long white cloths so he couldn’t be seen, but as Col lay on his back on top of flattened cardboard cartons, he wondered what the hell he was doing.

Please God don’t let Robert have seen me slide under here.When Col heard someone cough close by, he closed his eyes.Oh God.As if that was going to make any difference. Robert was probably lifting every cloth looking for him. Then Col felt someone settle next to him.Shit.He forced open his eyes and found himself nose to nose with a smiling Theo, who was now wearing a suit and tie. Col was relieved it wasn’t Robert, but felt his face flush with embarrassment.

“What are you doing?” Theo whispered.

“Health and safety check.”

“They sent two of us?”

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